Former Langston Hughes administrator receives five-year sentence for stealing money from the school

John McCusker / The Times-PicayuneKelly Thompson 39, center, leaves U.S. District Court in downtown New Orleans on Feb. 25, after pleading guilty to stealing about $660,000 from Langston Hughes Academy, a charter school.

Kelly Thompson, the former Langston Hughes Academy business manager who pleaded guilty in February to stealing $660,000 from the charter school, was sentenced Thursday to five years in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier also ordered Thompson to pay more than $670,000 in restitution to the school, which is near the Fair Grounds.

Thompson, 38, has told federal authorities that she used the money to finance a gambling habit.

The five-year prison sentence was nearly double the 30 to 37 months recommended by federal sentencing guidelines. Barbier said he gave Thompson the additional time because her crime was "systematic and planned." The case has damaged post-Katrina school reforms in New Orleans, the judge said.

"You robbed inner-city children of educational opportunities," Barbier said before handing down the sentence.

Thompson's attorney, Eddie Jordan, the former Orleans Parish district attorney and former U.S. attorney, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Kathleen Padian, president of the Langston Hughes board, said: "We feel the judge going beyond the recommended sentence and adding additional time to make an example of Ms. Thompson was an excellent thing for the city. He was sending a clear message that stealing funds from public education is a particularly heinous crime."

Since Hurricane Katrina, a majority of New Orleans public schools have become independently run charter schools, with only loose oversight from school districts.

After the Langston Hughes theft came to light, Recovery School District Superintendent Paul Vallas said district officials would step up spot checks of charter schools' finances and encourage charters' boards to keep a tighter lid on their financial operations.

According to a document Thompson signed as part of her guilty plea, she began stealing from the school's bank accounts as early as August 2008, about a month after she was hired as business and human resources manager. She continued to write checks to herself and withdraw cash intended for school operations until she was fired in November 2009, the document said.

Thompson covered her tracks by making false entries in the school's books. She spent the money at local casinos.

The theft was uncovered during a regular financial audit. The findings were forwarded to state and federal authorities, and Thompson was charged on Jan. 29 with stealing from an organization that receives federal money.